Most people associates creativity with artistic tasks,  but our brain generates ideas all day long no matter if we are driving a car, cooking a meal or wondering how to deal with a task in our work.  Why not use the brain to generate creative ideas in a wide range of aspects in our life? What does „creative” really mean?

 

What is creativity and why should we be creative?

Creativity is a process. What does it mean that a product or a service is creative?

It has a simple three characteristics:

  1. New

  • Meaning that the idea is new to you (some person could have get the idea before you)

  1. Useful

  • Meaning that it should be put put into practise for someone’s benefit

  1. Surprising

  •  Meaning „Wow! Why didn’t I get this idea before?”

 

What is more creativity  helps to build self-confidence as long as we understand that failure is a part of a process of creation and this is the way to enhance our problem-solving skills.

 

Patterns of creative & innovative products

Most of creative products and services are in common with 5 patterns. This means that the process of making creative ideas has a pattern!  I will describe you shortly how to implement the 5 techniques to boost your creativity:

1. Substraction technique

Eliminate one of the core components.  Need an example? When you compare a standard bicycle and an excercise bike you realize that the exercise one has had a rear wheel removed.

2. Task unification

Try to copy the component that already exists in a product and change it. Add some tasks to an existing resource. For example the car’s horn will beep to let you know when you’ve reached the right tire pressure.

3. Multiplication

Copy component & change it. For example air refreshener has two different senses so thant when your brain start to cut the first sense out  (as your nose becomes accustom to a smell) the second sense start pulsing out and your nose picks it up when the other one left off.

4. Division

Divide a component or product along some physical or functional line. For example a face plate can be physically separated from the car main radio so that the thiefs will not brake into your car to steel it. Another example – cupcakes are a smaller versions of a normal size cake.traffic light creative thinking vhite studio interior design

5. Attribute dependency

It means that as one component changes, another one changes.  For example traffic light gets green in response to the presence of a car at the intersection. Or a loudness of a clock alarm gets higher in response to a time it’s ringing to effectively wake you up.

 

How to select best ideas?

Selecting the best ideas is crucial part of creativity process.

You should think what criterias you should evaluate higest. How well does the idea fit to your needs or company?  How much does the idea have an impact on your business, career or life?

Make a list of ideas, describe them and  evaluate each in accordance to choosen criterias. Why not ask your friends or work colegues which ideas they like most? Use wisdom of others to help yourself evaluate your ideas.

 

Creative thinking  increase self-confidence, improove your problem-solving skills and quality of your life. Be creative!

 

Sources: 
„Creative Thinking” by Drew Boyd, www.lynda.com
www.forbes.com
www.businessdictionary.com